Jim Cumming – From the Publisher Emeritus’ Pen

I have a pink tie and a pink dress shirt—and I’ll be wearing both of them on April 10. It is “Pink Day,” the international day against bullying, discrimination, homophobia, and transphobia in schools and communities across our country. It began as a simple gesture at Central Kings High School […]

I attended an interesting meeting last Wednesday, during which one of the people on hand made a very appropriate comment. “The council of Fort Frances is not going to save the town,” he said. “The people of the community will save the town!” And when the words had settled at […]

Carl Schubring, a former editor of the Fort Frances Times, jokingly told me the following story. When the community had a sole lawyer, the poor lawyer could barely put food on the table for his family. When a second lawyer appeared on the scene, together they comfortably could feed their […]

A report in the Falls Journal noted that Borderland already had received 14 more inches of snow this year than is normal—and that was without Saturday’s snowfall. And we have a higher amount of snow still sitting on the ground than we normally do. As you read this, the official […]

Inside retail businesses, the inventory is changing. There’s still snow on the ground but swimsuits and colorful skirts, tops, and shorts are finding their way into store windows. In hardware stores, barbecues are popping up right in front of you as you walk through the doors, as are seed stands. […]

Killing the goose that laid the “golden egg” is among the most famous of Aesop’s fairy tales. It is the story of a cottager and his wife who had a goose that laid a golden egg every day. The couple believed the goose contained a huge lump of gold and […]

Did you ever wonder what you did before you had a cellphone? Have you wondered how you possibly could have lived without a smartphone? Some of you reading this column quickly will think, “I don’t have a smartphone, let alone a cellphone” and so there is no wonderment in the […]

I finally broke down and bought a snowblower. Two weeks ago, after the town had plowed in my driveway for the second time, without even getting my vehicle out of the driveway, I decided that the 30 years of debate on acquiring a mechanical snow shoveller were over. Now I […]

Does a penny for your thoughts now cost a nickel? Is penny wise and pound foolish now nickel wise and kilo foolish? Monday marked the end of the penny in Canada as banks no longer will issue this historic piece of Canadian money. Since 1858, the coins have jingled in […]

More than a year ago, I wrote of my enjoyment of having an e-reader. I still enjoy it very much. The advent of e-books has had a lasting impact of book paper producers around the world as readers have adopted this new technology. People have claimed that electronic books will […]

By the end of this weekend, Ontario will have a new premier and it is expected to be a woman. Right now, Sandra Pupatello is leading the race to replace outgoing premier Dalton McGuinty, followed closely by Kathleen Wynne. If either of them win, they will become Ontario’s first female […]

After this past week, I can’t help but believe global warming is impacting us. I would never have expected rain in the second week of January. Instead, I would have expected frigid temperatures—the kind that takes your breath away just stepping outside. I shouldn’t complain about milder weather and its […]